The Strongest Bond
by Shi No. Miko
Summary: Chapter Four! An Ocarina Fic-a strange girl seems to know more about Link than he does. Who is she, and why does she even know Link?
1. Someone Else

Okay, let me explain myself.  This is a series I wrote a long time ago with a friend-her account is Der-chan-and it was lonely.  I'm eventually going to post all of our little series, I guess, but for the time being, I'm posting the one I wrote on my own.  This is the introduction to my character, so everyone understands all of her little mannerism, and why she is who she is.  So in short, Zelda-purifists, don't read this one.  And also, it's going to be a little weird in some places, because. . .well, I write a little better now than I did then.  I'm editing it as I go, though, so bear with me!

~*~

The only sound in the forest was the sound of Link's boot touching the ground.  It was almost impossible to walk silently in a forest, but one person could manage it.  I had been following Link for a while now, always hidden in the shadows.  The only light that I gave off was the small light of a fairy poking out from behind my shield.  Kailua had always been my faithful companion, although I was the first of my kind to have a fairy.  Most of the Kokiri knew that, none cared.

_"Angela, what's going on?"_  Kailua whispered, unable to see.  I wanted to keep her in my shield; she'd give off too much light too quickly if I let her out right now.  I shushed her as quietly as one can shush a fairy.

"Nothing, yet.  I have no idea where he's going.  I just have got to talk to him before Navi comes to him.  It probably just Mido again, him and those mushrooms. . ." Link was always getting bossed by Mido, he was always being sent for mushrooms, too.  I wondered what Mido _did_ with those mushrooms, but I didn't really care.

_"Navi?  Isn't she a stray fairy?  She doesn't have a partner yet, does she?"_

"No.  Be quiet, or we're going to get caught!" Link heard my voice when it rose a little bit.  He turned around, but nothing appeared to be there, a swirl of mist that laughed at him, as everything else in this wood did.  Whereas the Kokiri respected me, how I could walk silently through anything, and how I yelled at Mido without worrying, they didn't respect Link as much.  Sure, they liked him, but he was different.  He was the fairy-less wonder.

He walked under a long branch in order to reach a ladder, and heard a swirling behind him.  He was different from the other Kokiri; he was quick on his feet.  Not like the other Kokiri weren't fast, but still. . .he was faster.  And I was faster than he was.  He looked at me, as he turned, his eyes quickly taking in all that he could see.

He knew me, I guess.  I let him see me on occasion, but not like now.  I would stand in the shadows, and watch him, and when he looked up, I smile and wink at him, then back up.  And fade into shadows, maybe fly away. Kinda fun to be the mysterious girl standing in the shadows.  I induced interesting nightmares.

I had made it clear to the others; don't talk about me when Link can hear you.  He can't know about me, not until I decide he needs to.  Mido would always glance at me though; I knew that Link followed his eyes.  I had once been yelling at Mido, and Link had almost seen my face, in clear sunlight, but I had run, sprinted past the Kokiri guarding the exit to Hyrule Field.  But Link hadn't been able to pass, I had been fine.

Link wasn't allowed to see me.  The Kokiri knew why, and my personal opinion was that they didn't care, since they didn't believe in Hyrule.  But since I could have killed them pretty easily, they kept their mouths shut.  Not that I would have killed them anyway.

Link's hair was short, still long for a boy's, although he kept it in that little hat of his.  I loved sitting in trees over his head, and kicking it off before hiding; to hear him yelling at whomever had done that.  His blue eyes widened when he realized that I wasn't running away from him now, as I always did.  His Kokiri tunic, all he ever wore, was muddy; there were several tunnels he had crawled through earlier.

I could see myself reflected in the blue eyes, although with a blue tint.  But I knew what I looked like.  Long browns hair, past my waist.  And blue green-eyes, which shifted colors every second.  Never standing still.

Link was taller than me, a slight surprise.  He had looked shorter from a distance.  He must have gotten taller in the past months.  My Kokiri tunic was green, no mud, although I had used the same tunnels as Link.  I was just better at dodging.

"Who are you?"  I laughed.  Link's voice had awed aura in his voice, which was unexpected.  It was I who should be in awe, I reminded myself.  I watched Link's face for a minute, knowing he was trying to place my face.  Like he had known it long ago, and forgotten it, although he should still know it. . .like I knew his face, although I knew things that he didn't.

"Wait for seven years, Link, and then you'll know, perhaps even understand.  I know you've seen me.  And I'm not telling you who I am.  A lot of things are stopping me from doing that. . .fate, duty. . ." _And of course making you think._  "I guess you'll understand later."  I chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing.  Just that I'm confusing someone who's someday gonna totally change the land of Hyrule.  You _do_ know about Hyrule, don't lie to me.  You suck at lying.  You'll have to learn to live on your own. . .and I know for a fact you'll end up changing people's _lives_.  Everyone."  Talking about deep manners isn't my specialty, in case you couldn't tell.

Link frowned, confused.  I knew that he didn't believe me, but he was mainly just confused.  "What are you saying?  That I can change the future of a world?"  I shook my head, quickly and furiously.

"No, Link, I'm not saying that you _can. . .I'm telling you that you __will.  You'll understand in years, seven, like I said." I smiled, nudged my shield.  Kailua popped out, happy to see the boy that I had followed for so long, and happy that I finally had spoken to him._

Link was shocked; even the shadow girl had a fairy, yet he didn't?  He felt shock, and sad, it was all in his eyes.  I had no trouble reading it, although it made me sad.  Wasn't his fault he was the fairy-less wonder.  "You have a fairy?"

It was more of a statement, but I decided to answer it like it was a question.  "Yes, Link, I do, and you will too.  Don't worry, I've got faith in you, even though you don't know me.  I have to go now.  But when I look at you, I don't see a fairy-less boy, like the others.  I didn't when I first saw you, and I never will. . .and not jut because you'll someday have a fairy."

"What?"  I shook my head.  It wasn't for him to understand, anyhow.  Not here.  Not now.  I wished I could explain everything, but I had to keep it hidden, had to pretend. . .I shook my head again, as much as telling him that I wouldn't tell as to shake away tears that threatened to fall.

"I have to leave."  I turned around, and looked at the sky, the mists not reaching all the way up there.  It was a beautiful day, although under the cover of mist it seemed bleak.  I sighed, and repeated that.  "I have to leave."  I closed my eyes, and concentrated on a picture of a red-tailed hawk.  And I felt the changes.  I shrunk, feathers appeared and other things, until the peaceful girl was no more.  And a red-tailed hawk was now standing there.  I glanced back at Link, who had suddenly sat down, opening and closing his mouth.

I smiled as much as a bird can, and flew, my wings rustling in the wind, the smell of the life that Kokiri Forest bragged of everywhere.  It was a great smell to the hawk, which was hungry.  I was too, but I was going to steal something from Mido later, so I ignored that urge.  I landed near a grotto, pretty close to Link's house, actually.  It was in back of it, hidden between two tree roots that had raised above the ground, and no one ever looked back there.  As a bird, I could dive-bomb the grotto, and go inside.  I looked at Kailua, and she grinned.  After positioning carefully, I was able to fit into the grotto perfectly, no true red-tail could ever hope to pull off such a feat.

Kailua laughed happily, and I had to try _hard_ not to hit the water to break.  It wasn't easy, since I almost maimed the wall, and I had done that once.  Part of my beak was still sitting on the floor, under the little pond that was in the back of my grotto.

I had found the grotto here, like it had hidden from me, since I had been hiding from a moblin, and had run back here to hide.  I had "found" the grotto-my foot got caught in it-and I dived in, finding it desolate and totally dead.

It had the little pool in front, and a little tunnel off to the side, where I stored food-mainly Deku nuts, which had a really good filling.  But, the main chamber had a little cot, which Saria had given to me when I asked. I had stolen pillows from Mido, and the rest was mine.  I liked the place, as small as it was.  I smiled, and then fell on a pile of cushions.  I looked for Kailua, who had disappeared.

I sat up, and said, "Kai?  Kailua?"  She popped her head out of a small Deku nut sitting on the ground.

"Hmm?"  

It's strange to watch a fairy eat, if you've never seen one. They kind of float about, for one, cause I swear the wings don't flap.  When they actually eat something, and it just goes _poof_, and it's not there and they've eaten it.  So little bits of Deku everywhere were just going _poof_!

"Um. . .Link's. . .he's. . ."

"You just need to say something, and you have no idea what to say, is what you mean."  I nodded, and shrugged.

"Maybe in different words.  But yeah.  Kailua. . .do ya think. . .he'll. . .we'll have a chance out there?  I mean, Hyrule's not like a backyard. . ."

"What were you expecting?  Neat grass, little orderly flowers. . .and the houses all exactly alike, so when people go home, they get lost three time until they find their real house."

I laughed, and Kailua did too.  "And I bet that everyone dresses the same, too."

"Oh, absolutely.  And they all use magic to look alike, the boys all have short brown hair and green eyes, and the girls are all with long blond hair, and brown eyes. . ."

"Of course, there are no beauty contests, cause everyone looks the same."  We both started laughing at our little world, and I finished my beautiful tale with, "I call this world a stupid name, the dumbest name I can think of.  I name this world. . .Kailua."

Kailua squealed, and I laughed.  She zapped me with some fairy magic, and I yelped, but kept laughing.  Then she laughed too, and we kept teasing each with what people did in Kailua, and so on.  Finally, I realized that it was late, I hadn't eaten yet, and Kailua and I had gotten off topic.  About a light year off topic.  I sighed, and pretty much crawled into my excuse for a bed, and nestled down.  Kailua fluttered around my head for a moment, then settled down.

"G'night Kai."

"Night Ang."

I closed my eyes, and slept.  It was one of those few moments when I didn't feel like life was tumbling down around me.  After all, most people dreamed of candy trees when they slept.  As much as kids longer for candy trees, I longed for something else.  Some_one_ else. . .

~*~


	2. Whispers of Death

Part two!  Yay!  This chapter is more of an explanation of Ang, and how her mind works.  It shows what she thinks about, why. . .that kinda stuff.  Next chapter is probably going to be longer, and cover basically everything up to the Sacred Realm. . .and no, I'm not going into a detailed description of how he beat each temple.  I have a _small_ life.

~*~

I gently pushed the blankets off myself, and climbed out of the grotto, managing to not wake Kailua up.  I looked around the forest, peeking out from behind Link's tree.  The sun hadn't quite risen yet, so the stillness of night still lay over the land.  The moon was almost gone, still casting a few eerie shadows throughout the land. I sighed to myself.  Something was wrong with the air.  I could feel it.  Something was going to happen.

I heard a soft moan from above.  I sighed to myself.  Link was having another nightmare.  He had them often, judging from how often I could hear the noises.  I wondered what scared him so much.  He couldn't remember his past.  I walked silently across the forest and into the lost wood, losing myself in the maze of tunnels.  Of course, I wasn't actually lost.  I knew the tunnels as well as I knew the contours of my bow.

I ended up where I always did.  The Sacred Forest Meadow, where Saria would be eventually.  She could feel the spirits there, which surprised me greatly.  She must have been important, but the Kokiri treated her with respect only because of who she was.  She assumed everyone heard the spirits, since no one else had ever told her otherwise.

I looked at the temple, wondering what had broken the great stairwell all those years ago.  There were no longer jagged edges, proving that the damage had been done possibly before even the Kokiri had inhabited the wood.  I gently touched the trunk of the tree near the entrance.  I heard a footstep on the ground behind me.

I turned around, drawing and cocking my bow in one fluid movement.  I stared at the man standing behind me.  I didn't hear him coming!  I didn't even hear him!

He smirked at me.  "Could it be you are not as bonded with the forest as you would like to be?"

"Who are you?"

He smirked again.  I didn't like his attitude.  Contempt practically dripped off him.  "That is you for to find out.  Tell me, why is it you follow that young boy around?"

"…What's it to you?"

"Nothing.  However…I believe I could kill him quite easily, if I so desired.  It would require very little of my power.  And all I'm asking of you is a simple answer to a simple-"

I let my arrow go.

It whizzed directly past his right ear, and by the time he had realized it had missed, I had the next one ready.  "I'll hit you next time.  Don't threaten him."

He laughed.  It wasn't a pleasant sound, but it made me tremble to little bit.  "Foolish girl…it'd be so easy for me to kill you as well!"  He reached out and clenched the air in front of him.

I felt a huge hand close around my throat, cutting off my air.  I dropped my bow in surprise, and reached for my throat.  An invisible force was blocking it off.  I choked.

He lifted his hand, pulling me into the air as well.  "Tell me girl.  Is he the one?"

I felt my blood run cold.  He knew about the legend.  He knew.  I opened my mouth, ready to deny it, but he clenched harder, so no noise came out, save a strangled squeak.  I shook my head instead.

He snorted, and dropped me.  I collapsed on the ground, gasping in huge breaths of air.  "Insolent girl."  I looked up, in time to see him fire a huge ball of magic at me.  I watched it with horror, since it certainly looked capable of killing me off.

At the last moment, I raised my bow, and fired off another arrow.  It sunk into the ball of magic, striking it with a bright flash of light.

And then, everything went black.

~*~

Hours later, I opened my eyes.  A quiet, drifting melody was floating through the woods.  I winced at the light, and sat up, feeling my whole body ache.  I was alive.

The music stopped.  Saria looked at me, a look of mild concern on her face.  "I collected your arrows for you."

I looked at my bow.  Next to it, my quiver full of airs was sitting, perfectly organized, as if I had just walked out of the store.  I nodded my thanks, my throat still sore.  Saria nodded back at me, and lifted to ocarina to her lips.  I watched as she began to play again, the melody so quiet to was basically not hearable, but still calling all the spirits of the woods to her.  Wild fairies began to gather around her, dancing in beat to her song.

I sat up slowly, and picked up my bow and arrows, sliding them back onto my back.  I tried to stand up, but simply couldn't find the energy.  I quietly hummed to myself, humming my own personal warp song.

I'm not a sorceress, don't get me wrong.  But I grew up surrounded by magic, and with the skull children.  After a while, they taught me how to compose a warp song.  It wasn't easy, and I doubt I'd ever do so again, but for that one time, it had been fun.

I didn't have an instrument, so I had to sing to myself.  I had been told I have a wonderful voice, and I guess if I could get the whole of Kokiri forest to beg for another song it had to be true.  I closed my eyes, and focused on the melody.  It was harder to warp without an instrument.  But I preferred to practice my voice.

The words to my song played in my head as I hummed the two-lined song.  Although the real song when on for nearly two pages, the warp was only two lines.  Good for dangerous situations.  What if I nurse this infection…maybe the worst is behind…

I opened my eyes and looked around.  Once again, I was in my grotto.  I reached for the blankets, but the five feet was too far to crawl.  I collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.  "Kai?"

The fairy started awake, and then flew over to me.  "Where ya been?  You look like you just frolicked through a field of angry Deku scrubs."

I looked at her with an expression of confusion, annoyance, and just plain exhaustion.  "I need some of that revival thing."

"Well, since you ask so nicely…" But I could still hear the worried tone in Kai's voice.  She fluttered over, and somehow managed to carry the heavy bottle over to me.  I picked it up, and sipped it, glad I had bought it.  I sipped a little at a time, and stopped when I felt okay again.  "So, what happened?"

"Magic."

"Whose?"

"I don't know.  He looked like he came from the desert.  Who lives there?"

"The Gerudo?"

"Yes.  He looked like one of them.  He had really dark skin.  Wore a lot of armor.  And I think he had red hair…"

Kai seemed surprised.  "I didn't think men of the desert had red hair, usually."

I shrugged.  "Never been there.  How do I know?"

"Then how do you know it's there?"

"I've flown over it."

Kai nodded.  Finally, she said, "She came."

I looked at Kai in surprise.  "Well good for her.  Who is she?"

Kai rolled her eyes.  Don't ask how I knew.  You can tell when a fairy rolls their eyes.  "Navi, idiot.  She was there when I woke up. I heard Saria yelling at Link, saying how happy she was…he took off, and Saria got bored after a while.  She went to the meadow.  Where did you go, anyway?"

"I saw her there. I was at the meadow…something's wrong in this forest today."

"The spirits have been in turmoil for weeks now, Ang.  I thought you already knew that something was wrong."

"I didn't realize how wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb, Kai.  You can feel the spirits more than I can.  There's another spirit in there now.  It's evil.  Someone is tainting the forest."

Kai didn't answer.  She looked away, silently feeling the essence of the forest, calming herself down.  But the evil ki was there, making her shake.  I stood up.  "Come on.  We'll help Link out."

Kai looked at me.  "We can't.  You know the rules as well as I do."

"Fuck the rules!"  Coming from a ten-year-old, it was enough to made Kai pause.  "I don't care!  Just because I'm not supposed to interfere with it doesn't mean I like it!  And what I don't like I change!"

"You can't change what the goddesses have already set in motion."

I glared at the fairy.  "Watch me."  I stormed out of the grotto, missing several handholds while climbing out. Kai hovered next to me, watching with a mild disinterest.  I glared at her when I got out, and looked around the forest.  "Now where in Din's name is that boy…" I heard the noise of the training center boulder hitting something and stopping, followed by a sharp yell of pain.  I sighed.  "That answers that question."

I walked over to the entrance, and then decided I was far too lazy to actually crawl through.  So I flew.

That's right, I flew.

A long time ago, I had discovered a discarded crystal on the ground in the forest.  Kai had told me to leave it alone, but I wanted to touch it, so I ignored her.  As soon as I touched it, it had fused to my hand, melting and becoming part of it.  For a few days, my hand had a filmy look to it, reflecting sun the same way the jewel had.  The shell had spread daily, eventually covering my whole arm, before covering my whole body.  The strange thing was, it didn't hurt.  It was just mildly annoying.  Within the next day, it had faded.

I hadn't noticed a different, just that I wasn't shining in the sun anymore, which was a good thing, believe me.  Anyways, a few days later, I was watching a bird fly by, and I was thinking how much fun it would be to be a bird, how much fun it would be…all that stuff.  Then I noticed my body was-literally-melting.  It were changing shape, flowing like liquid.  I started screaming bloody murder.

The melting stopped there, leaving me with wings, talons, and a normal human body.  I had panicked for about twenty minutes, and then calmed down, and focused on the bird again.  Almost instantly-as soon as I opened my eyes-I was a bird.

So whenever I want to fly, I think about being a bird, and I fly.  When I want to go unnoticed, I turn into a stray fairy.  There're so many of them, no one notices one more.  I can turn into any living thing I so desire.  But I've never tried to be a human.

So anyway, I flew over the barrier, and road the thermals above the training center, watching Link and the boulder have an all-out offensive.  The boulder chased him, and he threw rocks at it.  I was thoroughly amused.

Eventually, he stopped in front of the chest.  Navi came out of his hat.  I stared at her, focusing intently on the fluttering pixie.  Navi.  The second Hylian fairy.

I looked at Kai.  "What's in the chest?  I assume you've already opened it?"

Why else would it be unlocked?  It's the Kokiri sword… 

As an animal, although I could talk to other members of the species, I had to talk to humans basically telepathically.  I just kinda put what I was saying into their head.  Some people just always assumed it was their own thought.  Like Mido.  "Ah.  He's leaving?"

_Not if I can help it.  Idiot needs a shield too._

Kai sighed.  "For someone you call an idiot at every chance you can…"

I can't help it.  He's…he's like family to me.  I want to make sure he's okay.  So lay off! 

"Don't throw a hissy fit.  Look, he's got the sword."

I looked down.  Link was swirling the Kokiri sword, parrying with invisible enemies.  I gulped.  He handled it well.  He was definitely a natural.  But I didn't want him to have it.  I knew what that sword signified.

I landed on a ledge nearby, and looked at him.  He stared at me for a moment, and then grinned.  He made a jab at me, but I refused to move, unlike a normal hawk.  He shrugged it off, and continued to fool around.  I sighed to myself.

Maybe I should get out of here… 

He looked up, and shook his head.  "Hey, Navi!  Think we should go now?"

The floating light nodded.  They took off, avoiding the boulder this time.  I shook my head, and looked at Kai.  _What would he do without me?_

"Have more fun, I think."

_Thanks._

"I love you too.  But…if Saria was right, after this, the kid's never going to have any spare time.  You should let him play around for now.  There's plenty of time to let him train.

That's the point I'm making!  If I just let him fool around now, sooner or later, he'll meet something he can't handle.  And then what will he do?  If I work him now, he'll be ready for it later, Kai!

"You think you can prepare him for everything, Ang?"

Yes! 

"You're just as sheltered as he is.  You know about the outside world, and you've been there.  But you understand as much as he does.  You know his fate.  You know your own fate.  Just let it go."

I took off, diving after Link.  I didn't want to think about fate.  I hated fate.  Someday, I'd kill the sadistic bastard that had arranged mine.

Link had to stop in the store before he returned to face Mido, now armed with a shield.  I soared above, watching with interest.  Link stopped in front of Mido, who refused to let him go through the door.  "What do you want, fairy-less wonder?"

"…I have a fairy, Mido."

Mido looked at Navi in surprise.  "Shocking.  I didn't know stray fairies would stoop so very low."

Link sighed.  I had to admit, he was used to dealing with Mido.  I was probably the only other person who could ever get what I wanted from the boy.  And I just beat him up.  "Look, Mido.  I just want to see the Great Deku Tree.  Will that suit you?"  However, I couldn't act that nicely to the idiot.

Mido rolled his eyes, and made more comment before eventually storming off, practically in tears with himself.  I hovered over Link's head, watching as he walked down the narrow path, looking up and down.  He had never been into this part of the forest.

Suddenly, the ground near his feet erupted.  He scrambled backwards, clumsily pulling out his sword and shield.  He circled the spinning thing.  I sighed to myself.  He couldn't be that helpless.  _Attack the thing!_

Link did so, slicing the thing in half.  He picked up the Deku stick he got from it, listening to Navi explain them to him.  He nodded, and then kept walking, killing two more.  Kai looked at me.  "See?  He's doing better than you thought he would."

I shrugged, watching him.  It was an old pastime of mine.  I was constantly watching out for the boy.  I figured it was my job, since my "fate" dictated it didn't matter anyway.  According to destiny, Link would be greatly important and influential, all that stuff.  And I would fade away into the mists of time, forgotten.

So did it matter if I died for a cause?  Protecting someone who would make a difference?  Link walked in front of the Great Deku Tree, looking at it in awe.  Navi fluttered up to it, telling it she had returned.

I listened to his story, only half paying attention.  I already knew what he was saying, although to Link it was probably shocking information.  Then the Great Deku Tree told Link to "free him from his curse."  He gulped, but walked inside.  I landed on the ground in front of the Great Deku Tree and glared at him.

_Bastard!  He just got a sword!  Do you think he's ready to- _"take on monsters yet?  And a full scale curse?"

My melting cut my speech when I switched to human; I couldn't speak as easily telepathically.  So I tended to go back into actual speech.  Of course, being a human was just another form I could take, but speech was the human's natural mode of communication…basically, not talking aloud in a human form was like trying to get a point across by barking as a horse.

"He will be when he is done with the curse."

"I don't care about later, I want him to live now!"  I took a step towards him.  "Now let me in!  I'm gonna help!"

"You can't."

I practically growled at him.  Poor tree.  Trees don't get growled at very often.  "I'll guard his back for him.  I'll keep him alive.  He could die otherwise.  I won't help him otherwise."

"I cannot allow that.  Link must learn to be strong on his own."

"I intend on helping him, whether you like it or not!"  I walked up to the trunk, and began senselessly beating on it.  "Let me help him!"

The Great Deku Tree didn't say anything.  I guess he was watching as I attempted to kill him with my own two hands, but I'm really not sure.  Finally, I stopped, and just rested against his trunk, crying.

I couldn't help him.  I couldn't do anything with a point in my life.  It was worthless.  I'd die and fade into the mists of Hyrule legend, with Link went on and tried to defeat the great evils that had yet to rise.  I'd watch…I'd merely _watch _as her died.  And I couldn't do anything.

"…I can let you follow him.  As long as you promise not to interfere."

I nodded.  "I…I won't interfere.  What will you do if I do, anyway?"

"If you do, as I know you will, then I will be forced to put distance between you two, as I was advised to do before."

"By who?"

"When we found you…I was advised by someone to keep you two separate.  I will not tell you whom, seeing as I know you would kill them.  But…I know for a fact it is dangerous to allow you two to be together for an extended period.  You already know too much for your own good."

"…Are you going to let me in or not?"

"Heed my words, child.  I have lived far longer than you, and have seen many evils come and go.  The trust you have in that boy has killed many stronger than you.  I am sure it will be your end as well.  I advise you to separate yourself from him before it is too late."

I glowered at the tree.  "I don't take orders from a tree."  I looked at Kai.  As usual, she was silent.  The Deku Tree and I had many arguments before.  She never said a word during them.  "Are you going to let me help or not?"

"…I cannot change what is written and set in your destiny," he finally replied, and opened the hole in his trunk again.  Shaking, I stepped inside.

It's unnerving to bicker with the being that keeps you alive on occasion, I guess.

~*~


	3. Promise

Okay…I know it's been four months.  Sorry about the lack of updates.  I guess I'm lazy.  Truthfully, Akira will tell you, this has been written since practically the beginning of the year.  But I hate typing things up.  As she would also tell you.

-_-;;

Well, it's written now.  And it's longer on its own that the other two parts.  So…happy?  I hope so.  I think this chapter is probably the better of the ones I have so far, because I didn't re-write this one, it's totally new.  Wow, it feels _so_ good to finally explain my character.  She's crazy.  Well, not yet she's not.  And I'll bet you'll _never_ guess her name.

Well, I hope you all enjoy this!

~*~

I watched idly from above as Link battled with the big-giant spiders, which had dropped down in front of him, using a mix of his sword, his slingshot, and running.  In the end he stuck to his sword, since it didn't require ammo, and he could actually use it.  He still wasn't terribly good with his slingshot.

"His aim's gotten better."

_Marginally.  But that's still a relief._

"Yeah.  I guess Navi's 'drilling' worked well."  After finally getting out of the room in which Link had spent a good hour trying to shoot the ladder, Navi had subjected him to her own version of target practice.  With a lack of a better target, she had used herself.  I honestly liked the fairy at that moment. . .I had been considering helping out, but why bother when Navi would do it?  The poor fairy was exceedingly bruised and in a bad mood, but since Link was now accurate, she seemed proud of herself.  A fair trade.

_Navi will be a good partner for Link._

"No, you idiot!"  Navi whacked Link on the head, which looked like she had just flown-full force into him.  But it had been a whack.  Fairies are confusing.  "You've holding the slingshot _backwards_!  Idiot!"

Kailua nodded.  "If they kill each other from frustration, or from a lack of things to do first, that is."  Navi continued to hit him, and he tried to swat her like an ordinary fly or something.  "I bet they'll get along after the curse is broken.  Navi is stressed for the Great Deku Tree, this is Link's first real test, and. . .well, stakes are high."

_And they only get higher._

"Pessimist."

_I never said they wouldn't get along._

Kailua sighed.  "Nothing bonds like a life-threatening experience."

_Exactly._

Link finished the fight off by switching his slingshot to face the right way, and then destroying the spider and picking up a rupee.  He walked down the wooden plank, and looked down from the top.  I swooped down from my perch, and melted back into myself before Link could see me.  As soon as he located me, I was sitting on another plank, looking down and swinging my legs.

"Do you just honestly enjoy following me around, or do you have nothing better to do?"

"Don't flatter yourself, fairy boy.  I have plenty of stuff to be doing, but this is more interesting."  Why was he angry with me?  "And I don't really want the Great Deku Tree to die, either."  _Actually, that might be nice…_

"You _always_ follow me."

"Got proof?"

"You're always behind me.  Looking out for me.  Even when I thought I had lost you."

"I know.  And I've helped you a lot more than you think, too.  You don't always notice me.  I lost count of how many times you owe me your life.  I've wasted a lot of arrows on you, boy."

"Stop calling me boy."

"Fine.  Link."

". . .You don't think I can do it on my own, do you?"

"I don't know.  I don't want to know."  I was afraid.  Afraid of the answer to that question.  Afraid that if I didn't follow him around everywhere he went, that he would disappear.  That he would just fade out of my life and I'd never see him again, or he'd die and one day I'd stumble across his body.  He was the only other Hylian I'd ever known.  I didn't want him to die.  "I trust you.  It's the rest of the world I don't trust."

Link nodded, and stood up.  I looked at him, and then back down at the spider web underneath us.  It was a long fall.  "I don't mind you following me.  But stop helping me.  Let me lead my own battles.  I need to learn on my own, don't I?"

". . .You're not going to make me stop worrying by asking, Link.  And I'm not gonna stop following you simply because you asked.  But. . .if you insist. . .I'll only help you when _I_ think you need it."

He sighed.  He probably realized I wouldn't let him go, simply because he wanted to be given a little freer reign.  I watched as he turned and jumped off of the plank, heading towards the spider web under us.  I wasn't sure if he had realized the thing wouldn't hold his weight plus his momentum, but I guess he figured it out.

"So, I guess we gotta leave him alone now.  What a shame. . .come on, let's go pick some nuts or something."

I snorted.  "Of course we're not leaving him alone.  Just because he asked doesn't mean I'm gonna let him off the hook.  I said I'd protect him, and I will.  No matter what it takes, because if I'm gonna die forgotten, I'd better die well.  Would you rather me die alone on a beach or something, or making sure all of the hopes for Hyrule live?"  I smiled.  "I set my course a long time ago."

". . .You'd think you were a sage or something. . ."

I looked down over the edge of the platform.  The spider web was broken, and the water far below was no longer rippling.  Link was gone.  I prepared to jump off the edge, but I heard Kailua quietly ask me not to.  "Ang, you're only ten.  You're. . .just a little girl. . ."

I smiled.  I sat down, and looked down at the water.  "There's a song, Kai that I have sung for you before.  Do you remember the one I'm talking about?"

"You've sung maybe. . .eighty songs?"

_"Little boy, little girl…_

_Ten years old with empty hands,_

_Has to beg, has to steal_

_No one knows just how she feels_

_Momma cracks, Daddy cracks,_

_Little girl, can't go back,_

_All alone, she's all alone,_

_Little girl, childhood gone…"_

(A/N: Please, these lyrics were not written by me, they are part of a song, but it's really not well known. . .I can show you were to find them if you wanna know.) Kailua sighed.  "I remember it. . .but, Ang, _please_. . ."

"No."  I jumped off the edge, and let myself turn into a hawk.  _No one understands.  _Kai_ doesn't understand.  No one _really_ knows what the future has in store for me…so maybe the book is wrong.  Maybe I won't die alone and forgotten.  _I hit the water, and pulled myself out of the water, coughing up some of the water I had swallowed by accident.

_I wanted to help you…and I vowed that I would help you, Link.  No matter what happens…I intend to help you.  My intention will _always_ be good._

~*~

_This is a really uncomfortable perch._

Kai looked at like as if I were the biggest dolt she had ever had the misfortune of knowing.  "Well, then don't _sit_ there."

_I have to sit here.  There are no other perches that are out of the way yet still have a very good view of what's going on.  I need to make sure I still can see Link, and that he doesn't see me.  The source of this stupid curse must be nearby._

"Why do you saw that?"

_You remember how Link used to shake whenever he had nightmares about the evil side?  And how he'd shake?  Look at him…he's not afraid, but his body is shaking.  The evil energy around here is pretty high._

"Aren't you sensitive to that kind of stuff?"

_Not as sensitive as Link._

Kailua stared at him in surprised, and then finally nodded.  "You're right, Ang.  I can see him shaking, but I don't think he's afraid.  His reaction is totally unconscious…I doubt think he actually realizes the amount of evilness in this place."

We watched in silence as Link deflected the nuts back at the Deku in perfect order.  The second, third, and first.  He always had a perfect memory of infantile tasks, like the ones Mido would ask him to do.  The last Deku scrub gave him a clue, and then ran off.

_…You know, I could have told him to strike Gohma will she was down._

"Aren't you special."

I looked around the dank cave once more, hoping there might have been something I could help him with.  However, the water attracted my attention.  I didn't like it.  The water looked evil, smelled evil, reflected light evilly…even Kailua didn't like it.  Link was already dry, after only a minute of walking around, doing nothing.  It wasn't…natural.  I _knew_ water.  _Eviiiiiiiil water._

Kai looked at me and just shook her head.  "…If you don't shut up with the water, I'm gonna push you in it."

_But look at it!  It's all…evil…and not good!_

"…Just shut up."

As Link opened the door and began to walk into Gohma's layer, Kai and I dived off our perch and skimmed the ground, following him.  He let the door drift shut behind him, so we managed to still fly through the door.

As soon as Link stepped into the big chamber in front of him, a wall literally _dropped_ behind him.

_Holy shit!  Pull up, pull up!_

Kai pulled to a stop instantly-most fairies could do that, being so small and used to flying-but a hawk can't hover.  So I had to fly in _small_ circles for nearly thirty seconds, trying to slow down enough to stop.  Kai laughed as I finally ended up crash landing.

"…That hurt."

Kai nodded, and looked at the door.  "I guess since we got all the way here, you've not going to let us leave without going in?"

"Nope."

"Here _I _was, thinking Link had asked us to stop following him. . ."

"He did.  But I'm not going to stop following him because I know him.  He'll need my help at some point, even if he won't admit it.  So I gotta follow him and make sure I'm there when he needs my help."  I rapped on the wall, and groaned.  "Solid."

"What did you think it was, made of mud?"

"No. . .but it were hollow, I could peck a hole in it or something."

Kai sighed.  "I guess there's no harm in watching him fight.  Well, I don't know how to get in, but I'm sure we can use your ability to get in somehow.  There aren't any cracks in the walls, and it's a solid seal.  So no animal I know of could get you into that room."

"That mean's I'm screwed.  I can only turn into living animals.  I can't turn into a shovel or something and get you to dig a hole.  Not that you could lift me if I did."

"So we think of something else."

"There's no way I can use my ability to get me through this!  I'm sick of being so _helpless_!"

"You can turn into mythical creatures, right?"

"Yeah, but how does that help me?"

"Well. . .I think we can bend the rules a little with your melting.  _Technically_, you can only become animals that are alive.  But that doesn't mean they'd actually have to exist.  I've seen you become a dragon, but I've certainly never seen a real dragon."

"Ok.  I still don't see where you're going with this.  There's no mythical creature I know of that can go through solid rock."

"Don't you get it?  Maybe you're really _creating_ those animals, not taking dead animals!  That means you could. . .you could create a race of. . .of living chairs!"

I blinked.  "Kai, you feeling okay?"

"You're missing the point!  You could create something that would get you through the door or under the door!  Like some kind of super-mole or something?"

"I still think you're coming down with something."  I looked at the door, and sat down.  "But you've got a point.  I don't want to use a mole. . .I'm used to the skies, being enclosed liked that isn't at all fun for me.  What else could I use?"

"I don't know; you think."  We sat and thought for several minutes, debated over strange things, such as if a normal mole could swim anywhere near as quickly as a super-mole, and why a mole would be swimming in the first place.  Suddenly, there was a loud thud against the nearby wall, and a rather eerie silence, broken only by a strange chattering noise.

"Link?"

"Whatever's in there must be getting the better of him. . ."

 I looked around in frustration.  "What am I supposed to _do_?"  I stared angrily at the wall.  There wasn't a way through it, unless I could become a ghost.  Only they were technically dead, and this wasn't the time to be playing.  I could feel myself practically shaking with anger.

From what seemed to be far off, I could hear Kai asking me something about if I was okay.  But I wasn't listening to her.  I could her the blood rushing through my head, I could feel my hands clenching almost too tightly.

I screamed.

I don't know what was going on, but it was obviously a lot.  Kai was trying to catch my attention and practically writhing in pain, there were rocks all over the place. . .it was so confusing.  But it just felt good to scream.

I abruptly stopped as I realized I wasn't actually breathing any more.  I took in gasps of air, feeling my vision swim, and trying to make sense out of what had just happened.  I idly noticed that the wall I had been standing in front of no longer existed.

_Did I use enough air to make myself come close to fainting?_

I looked at Kai, who was staring at me like I was. . .a freak.  "What. . .what just. . ."

"You broke the wall down with your voice. . ." Kai looked ahead, trying to forget whatever it was that had just happened.  "Look!  Link is over there!"

I looked over, and saw Link, with Navi floating around his head.  He was looking at me with a mixture of annoyance, surprise, and what appeared to be almost amusement.  "Kai. . .what is the point of this room?"  I could feel evil energy practically flowing from the room, but I didn't see anything except Link and mist.

I looked up.

There was a _spider_.  That was the nicest way to describe the freakish thing I saw hanging on the ceiling.  It was making almost squishing noises as it moved quickly across the ceiling, before spotting me.  Before I even knew how to react, it was falling, right on top of me.  Without thinking, I jumped to the side and rolled, my quiver in hand before I even realized I would need it.  The thing opened its eye and looked at me.  Without even realizing what I was doing, I shot it.  It reared back in pain and ran towards the wall, and climbed.  I watched the path of neon-bluish liquid trailing it.  _…Blood?_

"Kai?  What is that thing?"

Kailua stiffened, scanning through her memory for the information.  At last, she mechanically replied "Queen Gohma.  The tracked source of the curse placed on the Great Deku Tree.  A large spider that hangs from the ceiling to launch surprise attacks.  Her weaknesses are her overly sensitive eyes."

I frowned.  ". . .Haven't I fought this before?"

"Yes.  You have encountered approximately three Queen Gohma previous to this attack."

I looked at Kai and sighed.  ". . .Oh."  I ran over to Link, deciding if the thing wanted to stay on the ceiling, it was more than welcome to do so.  "Link!  Are you okay?"

I skidded to a stop a foot away from her, blowing the mist in crazy direction.  He shook his head at me.  "Shadow. . ." I grinned.

"That'd be me!"

"I _told_ you to stay away!"  He glared at me, obviously pretty damn pissed.  I took a hesitant step back."

"B-but I just wanted t-to help you out, Link. . ."

"I don't want your help."

"You need it!"

He sighed.  "You're getting overly emotional.  I'll fight on my own.  I have a fairy now.  I can be on my own."

"Having a fairy doesn't make you stronger!  It only means you have someone to hang around and help out a little bit!  Fairies can't fight!"  I could feel Kai and Navi give me a cold glare, but I continued to look helplessly at Link.  "Come on!  You can't do this on your own!"

"It appeared to me that I was managing on my own before you came."  I opened my mouth to protest.  "Don't you get it?  It's dangerous here!  I don't need to worry about myself _and_ you!"

"I came here on my own free will!"

"And I'm telling you to get out of her on your own free will!"

"Link!  Watch out!"

We both turned around at Navi's warning and up.  Gohma was dropping something from the ceiling.  "Crap."

"Wha-what are those?"  I loaded my bow without even thinking about it, my aim shaking horrendously.  Link's mere presence was making me nervous.  _Damn it!_

"Eggs."

Link drew his sword out and ran towards them.  I lowered my bow for a minute, watching him in surprise.  ". . .He's not scared. . .?"

I aimed towards one of the eggs.  Link noted which one I was aiming for and swung for the other two, taking them both out in a single swipe.  I fired my arrow, and it struck the egg dead center and reverberated.

The shaft snapped in two.

"What?!"  The egg shook and then opened.  A two-legged thing that was considering possibly mutating into a spider burst out of it.  It looked around in confusion, and then saw Link.  It made a beeline for him.  "Ooh, nice shot, Ang," Kai muttered.

"Link!  Look _out_!"

He turned to look at me for a spilt second before looking around.  I could see anger in his eyes again.  The spider thing jumped, and Link back flipped away from it.  It managed to swipe him once across his cheek, though, leaving a small stripe of blood.  Link stabbed and looked at me.  "Can't I trust you with anything?"

I could feel something wrong with my eyes.  They were shaking.  "Its. . .its got armor. . .I couldn't break it. . ." I could feel my bow shaking in my hands.  _Worthless._  I felt my body shaking.  _Please…don't let him be angry…_

_Worthless little brat._  I raised my bow again, and fired on shot.  Link followed it with his eyes and then stepped aside.  Gohma, rather surprised by the sudden second arrow that was stuck in her eye, stopped dead in her tracks.  Link turned around and stabbed Gohma-again in the eye-and then watched as she went into spasms.  I couldn't see his face.

Did this animal's suffering hurt him?

I looked at Kai.  "I. . .I think he'll be okay.  He's able to do what he needs to do."

"Unlike you.  You really weren't too much of a help, were you?  After all that effort?"

". . .I know.  But he wanted to do it by himself, so I thought I shouldn't help too much so he'd get fair experience."

". . .So, since you totally sucked, you're now trying to make up a really stupid excuse in the hopes I won't see through it?"

"Basically."

"You're pathetic."

"I tried."

"But, that doesn't change the fact that you didn't help him.  Now, I'll bet he thinks you're a weak little girl.  A helpless, little, weak girl.  And you certainly 'fought' like one.  So. . .now what?"

"We keep following him."  I watched him pick up the strange thing the spider creature had dropped.  Navi explained to him what it was.  Kai groaned.  "We'll protect him.  I can learn. . .how to act as a bodyguard.  We'll get used to it.  We both know how to manipulate the shadows. . .we'll just use it for a cause now.  Then he'll be safe.  Hyrule will be safe.  And after he fulfils his destiny. . ."

"You'll be dead."  I nodded.  "So, if you went out and just became a famous singer or something, you'd still be remembered.  Not to mention alive."

". . .I'm sorry, Kai."  She looked at me with a little confusion.  "I've already set my fate in motion now.  You know how it is. . .one minute, your destiny is up in the air, in the breeze. . .and then, with one motion, your future is set.  Nothing can change it.  I have to follow it now."  I began to walk out of the rank dungeon.  Kai watched me with frustration, eventually following me silently.

_Don't worry Link.  I've got your back this time._

~*~

We traveled around Hyrule for a few weeks.  At least, it seemed to be that way.  Sometimes things were unbearably slow, and I just wished I had never followed the boy.  Other times, I wished time would slow down.

My time with him was running out.

He thought he was still alone.  He probably never noticed that there were sometimes a few bolts lying on the ground near him after a melee.  He thought I had stayed in the forest, safely.  He didn't know I had been silently following him the whole time.  I had toned down my help, helping him only when necessary after the accident in Kokiri forest.  Of course, now I had lost count of the times I had saved him.  And, of course, he didn't know I had done it a single one of those times.

He was happy.  He was happy because he thought I had stopped following him.  He thought I was safe, tucked away back in the forest.  He thought it was too dangerous for me to follow him.

I was glad to see him worry about me.

Right now, it was night.   He was sitting in front of Hyrule Castle, idly fingering his new ocarina and waiting for his clothes to dry.  He had fought the Stalchildren for a while, but eventually he had put on the bunny hood and simply waited.  I was casually sitting on top of the drawbridge and watching him.  Kai was quietly hovering behind it, so her light wouldn't show.  It was peaceful.  I was wondering how I was going to manage to keep stocking arrows at the rate I was losing them.  My quiver had been close to empty for a _long_ time now.

"Navi, now what?"

". . .You know the song, you have the Ocarina of Time.  Go open the Door of Time and then we'll see what happens.  Every passing second matters now."

"I know.  But I'm kinda stuck here for a little bit."  He continued to hold the ocarina, and then finally looked back at her.  "I should open the door.  But we don't know what'll happen, do we?  And there are. . .people who I want to say good-bye to.  Just in case."

"You'll see them again."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."  Link smiled, and laid down on the grass to watch the moon.  He hadn't heard it, but I could tell that Navi had no idea of what was going to happen either.  Truthfully, I only knew as much as Navi.  I knew that supposedly, the legendary blade, the Master Sword was behind the door.  But it didn't matter.  I wasn't supposed to be here, so I couldn't tell him that.  I wouldn't even really be able to say good-bye, it looked like.

"Ang?"  Kai's voice was very quiet.  It sounded like she had been trying for my attention for a long time now, but I hadn't heard her.  I looked at her in surprise.  "I. . .want to go back."  She sounded almost afraid.

"What?"

"To Kokiri Forest.  I want to go back home.  Something terrible is going on.  Something is wrong.  The spirits. . .they're all quiet.  None of them have moved in hours.  When that man came here!  None of them are moving again!  They're only like this when something is wrong.  The spirits were silent when the Great Deku Tree died.  I want to be safe.  I want to go back home."

I nodded.  "Ok, Kai.  Go home."

"Are you sure?"  The fairy's panic was still evident in the eager way she was flying, but she still seemed afraid to leave me.  "I mean, you'll be okay, right?"

I smiled.  "Look, we'll meet back up.  I'll see Link off into the Realm, maybe follow him in, and then I'll come back to the Forest."

"You're going into the Realm?"

I smiled.  _No.  And neither is Link, if I can help it._  "Of course, Kai.  We'll both be okay for a little bit, and then we can wait together.  We can fill Link back in when he gets back together, okay?"

"But you don't know what's in the Sacred Realm."

"It'll be fine.  Just go, or you'll stay.  I know," I said, cutting Kai off before she could protest-"You're confused.   Stay with your kind fore a while.  It might help a little.  You'll feel better when we meet back up."

The poor fairy was confused.  It was evident now.  She wanted to go but she didn't want to leave me.  Finally, she flew off in silence, forgetting to even say good-bye to me.  I turned my attention back to Link, continuing to wonder how I was going to get those bolts back.  I watched the moon, marveling how slowly it seemed to be moving.  I wanted so badly to jump off the drawbridge and hug Link, but I resisted the urge.

_This might be the last day I ever see him…_

As the sun began to rise, I turned around and jumped inside of Hyrule Castle Town.  I scattered a few stones as I landed and startled a dog, which growled and barked at me.  I snarled at it, and it yipped and ran away.  I smirked at it.  I walked a few feet into the town, watching the guards.  They obviously were a bit confused by my sudden entrance from the top of their drawbridge, but no one did anything.  I sat down on one of the booths that would be full in a few minutes.  I could see people flooding out from behind the walls from their homes, and beginning to set things up.

A few asked me to move, and I was soon moved down to leaning against the side of the booth, eyes closed.  I heard the drawbridge go up.  I felt the tentative smile melt off my face.  _So…this is it, huh?  Last day._

I opened one eye, and watched Link run into town, pestering the first guard he found about Zelda.  When the guard began to get agitated, Navi convinced him to move on.  He ran towards the Temple of Time, Navi chasing after him hesitantly.

I stood up, slowly following them.  I didn't want to go to the temple.  It was almost menacing, with it's huge windows and sweeping roofs.  I didn't want anything to do with it.  I wanted Link to get away from it.  It was dangerous for him to go on.

I opened the door slowly, but let it fall heavily shut.  It slammed, making Link turn around.  He smiled slowly to see me.  "Hey, Shadow."

"Hey Link."

"Here to see me off?"

I nodded.  "Yeah."  His broad smile only made me feel how inadequate my small attempt was.  I wasn't happy to see him leaving.  "You. . .are you sure you're going to go through with this, Link?"

Navi looked annoyed with me, but Link only nodded.  "I have to.  I need to save Zelda now, I need to save _Hyrule_. . ." He turned and looked once at the door before looking back at me.  He looked afraid.  "You and I. . .Shadow.  We're different from other people, aren't we?  We've always been different."

I gulped a little bit.  _Link…I can't tell you anything yet…you're not meant to leave with that knowledge._  "Yeah, we are."

"Very different."

"Link. . .after you open that door, things are going to be. . .different.  You'll be more of an outcast.  No one is going to know who you are anymore.  You'll be a drifter without a home.  No one will know who you are or welcome you into his or her home for the night.  No one will want to see you. . ."

I didn't know any of this for sure, but I knew all about the legends.  Link was the legendary Hero of Time.  And I was no one.  Anyone who had read the sacred texts knew what the future held in store for the legendary Hero.  The only thing no one knew was if he was going to survive the whole thing.

"I'll be the same Link.  I probably won't even be in here too long."

I smiled.  "Yeah. . .maybe."

"How do you know, anyway?"

". . .I just do."

He shook his head.  He was more laid back now.  In the Deku Tree, he had been so tense, so worried.  Now he was back to his fun-loving self.  It was ironic.  Who'd have thought that the Hero of Time would be a fun loving-even lazy sometimes-Hylian boy who was pretending to be a Kokiri?  Of course, he thought he really was Kokiri.  I knew I was Hylian.

"But, whenever it is you get out of there, I'll be waiting for you right here, okay?"

He smiled.  "Promise?"

I nodded happily.  "Promise."

"Thank you."  He turned around, and looked at the groves in the platform before him.  He silently got out his ocarina and played a haunting melody that filled the whole temple.  I felt something inside myself twitch and turn sickeningly, but Link didn't appear to be affected.  The only proof he had of all the work he had been doing appeared on the platform, and the Door of Time simply disappeared at the song's command.

I could feel what Kailua had said now.  I could feel the spirit's silence.  They were just as scared as I was.

Link started climbing the stairs, but then he paused and looked at me.  ". . .Hey. . .you've done so much for me, and I've never done anything for you.  I've never even found out your name.  What is it?"

I stared at him in surprise.  _I'm not supposed to let you…_ I smiled slightly.  "My name is Angela."

He smiled back.  "See you later, Ang."

"Later."

He turned and walked into the open door.  I could distantly here Navi talking, but I couldn't hear her words.  I tried to hold my smile, but I felt it melt away.  I slowly walked towards the doorway, and peered in.  There was some kind of strange warp tunnel closing.  I stared at it in surprise.

_This is…the Sacred Realm?_

I heard the door slam open, and I turned around, and saw the tall desert man storming towards me.  He saw me and smirked.  My last memory of him floated through my mind.  _Insolent girl…_

I dived into the warp tunnel.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I realized I had no idea where I was.  I was obviously still sitting inside the Temple of Time.  And yet again. . .this was obviously not the Temple of Time.  It was twisted.  I turned around and saw Ganondorf looking around, talking very loudly.  But his words were lost on me.

All I could remember was the magic choking my throat shut.

I looked around desperately and saw the only way out that was not through him was through the window above my head.  Within seconds, my hawk form burst through the other side of the window, dropping glass shards everywhere.  I could feel a few shards stuck inside me, but it seemed like it was from far away.  The pain wasn't real.

I tried to look at my surroundings, but all I could see was a field.  It was growing black, too.  The closer I got, the foggier it became.  _Closer?_  I realized I was falling.  I was losing consciousness.  I felt my body begin to turn in the air, and I noticed absentmindedly that some of the glass splinters were turning reddish.

_What a shame…I never got to tell Link he's…_

I was totally unconscious before I hit the ground.

~*~


	4. Sacred Adventure?

So, what have I been doing for...how long now? A lot of stuff other than writing, it would seem. Yeah, I'm slow...but I seem to be in a Zelda kick of sorts, so there is a good chance I may update this again. Enjoy the insanely long chapter...the next two or three will probably also be long. :sweat:

As a note...I re-uploaded this. No one reviewed it, and the format was ZONKED, so...yeah. Here is is again.

* * *

My body hurt. That was the only thing I was consciously aware of. My body was a knot of pain. I slowly opened my eyes, but all I could make over were a few blurs. There was a blistering orange one, which I assumed was a fire, and a shape that looked remotely like a person. I tried to clear my eyes, but the shooting pain made me want to go back to unconsciousness. 

The shape moved. "Oh, you're awake now, little hawk?" I tried to sit up again, but all I could manage was to move my wings and talons a little bit. The boy chuckled, and idly stroked the top of my head. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna eat you or anything. You're lucky you were alive, though, or you'd be on the spit instead of whatever it is I put on there." He turned to look. "Ah, that's right. A scrub. They don't taste good, and I don't think hawks eat them. I'll have to find you something, little hawk."

I looked blearily at him. He was obviously rather crazy to be talking to a hawk. And then again, what was he doing here? Had he came in behind Ganondorf or something? _Oh well...doesn't really matter. Who knows how long I was lying here, anyway?_

"Little hawk. That's not a very good name, is it?" He shook his head, and looked idly away for a minute before returning his gaze to me. "I'll think of a better one for you. But," he stood up, and dusted his hands off before reaching down and grabbed a sword from under a shield lying nearby. "Until then, I'd better find you some food you can eat." He walked off, hands behind his head, whistling.

I stared at him in a mixture of confusion and interest. _He seems...nice and either insane, or out there. But nice._ But even if he seemed willing to nurse my battered body back to health, I shouldn't burden him. It wasn't nice, when I was capable of walking just fine. And I needed to go look for Link, not to mention figure out how I was going to survive when I had no idea what was going on. I hopped onto my "feet."

Instant waves of brutal pain. I hadn't realized how beaten up I was. I hadn't hurt this badly since I tripped off a bridge in Kokiri and landed headfirst. I tried to adjust to the pain, lessen it, but no matter how I stood, it only seemed to get worse. I finally gave up and tried to take my mind off the pain by looking around, which didn't help too much, seeing as I collapsed halfway through my sweep of the area. It was really only a small campfire, with a patch of grass flattened where the boy had been lying, with a few other items. His small fire, with a spit and whatever it was he said he was eating. It didn't look particularly good. I personally wouldn't be surprised if it poisoned him first bite. Other than that, there was me, a small pile that I realized was his shield, sheath, and several other things that just looked like they had been idly picked up and carried around without a thought. And, of course, the small pile of bloodied glass shards sitting next to his shield.

_He must have pulled them all out for me...how nice..._ The thought made my head spin a little. I felt just a little bit dizzy from just thinking about how long I must have been out if he had managed to do all that and I couldn't remember it at all.

I looked down at my body, and realized rather idly that I was also covered in bandages. My hawk's torso was simply wrapped in strips of blue cloth, which I realized was ripped. He had tended to all of my wounds for me. _What kind of person would take a hawk that's near death, and nurse it back to health when they obvious don't have much food anyway?_

I hopped back on my feet again. "Oi." I turned my sight, which was once again blurring with pain, to where the voice had come from. The boy was standing there with a dead rabbit in his hands and a serious look on his face. "Don't try to get away, okay? You're the first live thing I've seen in a while, I'd be sad if you left me." He grinned a little. "Besides, you look hurt...it wouldn't be smart to try to survive on your own at the moment."

He sat back down, fixing the meat to the spit, and watching me. I slowly settled back down to the ground. He smiled. "Good, little hawk. I doubt you understand a word I'm saying, but that's okay!" He glanced at the meat. "I'd give it about twenty minutes before you could eat it. You better sleep until then, huh?"

I didn't answer, but I could feel my eyes getting heavy. I wanted to return to my human state, but it did take energy to melt. Plus, the bandages would be awkward as a human. I'd have to get rid of them first.

I heard the spit still turning. The fire was warm, and I could hear the boy humming. But I closed my eyes and slept. I shouldn't have trusted him so quickly, so readily.

But...something about him told me he was safe. His presence nearby made me feel comfortable, as if I had known him for a long time. I was...almost happy to be with him. At peace, at last.

* * *

I opened my eyes with a jerk, and looked around me. The boy was asleep, snoring softly. His body looked tense, though. Like he could wake up at any second. The fire had been allowed to reduce to small embers, and I noticed his food was gone, although mine still looked warm over the fire. He hadn't woken me up to eat. I slowly got to my talons, and hopped a few feet away, trying not to make many noises or screech with pain. Both goals weren't going too well. 

Finally, I got far enough away to safely rip off my bandages and turn myself back into a human. Grimacing, I realized that taking off the bandages had reopened the wounds, and they were now freely flowing again. _Well. That was smart._ I looked around. I couldn't remember any of the surrounding landscape-probably because I hadn't seen it-but I could hear the trickling of water off to the left somewhere. I began to push myself in that direction. I heard the water getting closer, and I deemed that I'd still be okay when I got there. My wounds weren't bad enough to make me totally worthless, after all. They just made moving painful.

Finally, I reached a small spring. I found out that it was freezing, but it was all I was going to get. I stripped off part of my tunic and started trying to clean the wounds more thoroughly. They didn't look as bad as they felt. I sighed to myself, realizing I hadn't thought of re-bandaging them. I'd have to leave them open...which meant dripping blood all over until they closed fully. I began washing the dried blood off as well, wincing as I touched them, and then paused.

Something was moving behind me.

I gulped to myself. It could be anything from something about to attack me to just a passing animal, but...I was totally unarmed. Trying not to make any more noises, I tried to lower myself into the river and hope it was dark enough for whatever it was to not see me. The crunching noise got closer, and I gritted my teeth, idly wishing I had just kept the tunic on while I was cleaning...the water was _cold_.

The noise stopped, and I heard a chuckle, and the sound of metal on metal, which my ears instantly picked up as a sword being sheathed. "Little hawk, you shouldn't be trying to escape! I'm only helping you, silly..."

I winced mentally. _Stupid, stupid, stupid...I left those bandages back there!_ I tried not to make any more noise and simply wait for him to leave, but he seemed to want to find me. He was still walking around, but I couldn't see him. "Ah...I see your tunic, little hawk..." He chuckled a little. "I didn't think a normal hawk could be full of glass shards in a place like this."

I closed my eyes. _Please, go away..._

"Little hawk, I'm going to find you...you're still bleeding, you know. The smell of all that blood will attract stuff, and you're in no condition to fight." I could hear him walking around, moving along the spring's edges. He would find me at the rate he was going. The smartest choice would be to just go and let him find me...

But I'd _really _prefer to do that with a tunic.

There was a sighing noise almost directly above me. With a start I turned my head and opened my eyes and looked up at the boy standing on top of me with a "tsk, tsk," look. "Little hawk...bad, bad girl."

I honestly couldn't think of a way to respond. I just stared at him. He walked leisurely back over to the tunic I had dropped earlier and picked it up, and strolled back, clicking his tongue. I was still staring at him in shock. What was he _thinking_?

He offered the tunic to me, but I didn't move to accept it. "Ah, that's right!" He smiled and dropped it on the bank, just a little out of the water but still within my reach. "This is that whole 'guys don't look at girls when they're changing clothes,' thing, right?" I nodded slowly. He grinned and walked off a couple of feet, calling over his shoulder, "Okay, I'll just wait for you over here then!" Then I lost sight of him.

I slowly pulled myself up, and wiped at some of my cuts. They weren't bleeding as much anymore, but there was still a little blood seeping through. The spring appeared to have stopped it...and it _was_ cleaner now. I sighed quietly and pulled the tunic back on, feeling it cling to me. I slowly lifted myself out of the spring, and managed to get half of my body out before I slipped and hit my head against the ground.

"Oomph!"

"Whoa, little hawk...be careful, you're still hurt." I looked up, my vision blurring. The boy was standing there with a slight smile on his face, and a hand extended. "Come on, there's food back at the fire...food is good..."

I could feel my vision spinning. I was getting unearthly disoriented again, and I was afraid I would pass out in front of him or something. His smile faded a little. "...Hmm, I think I ought to carry you, little hawk..."

* * *

I woke back up with a blanket on top of me. I sat up quickly, breathing heavily, and looked around. The boy was nowhere to be seen. _I should get out of here while I can..._

Then a shooting pain ran across my whole body. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes while trying to focus the pain away. With minimal success. I slowly lowered my body back onto another blanket and closed my eyes again. There was no point in trying to escape. Whoever this guy was, he had tracked me easily last time when he had still been asleep, even though I was injured and wasn't sneaking too well. There was no point in trying to escape when I knew I wasn't going to make it anywhere.

Besides...he seemed almost trustable. He hadn't done anything to me, even though he could have easily killed me or done all sorts of various things. I could feel my body giving up a little at the idea of being completely at some stranger's mercy, but there wasn't a choice anymore. As soon as I was strong enough, I'd escape.

"Mau, little hawk, don't look so sad!" My eyes sprung open and I looked up to see the boy standing there with the same smile he'd had the previous night, assuming that was how long I'd been unconscious. "You've been looking sad since I found you, don't you smile?"

I blinked a few times. _...Maybe it was just dumb luck he found me, he doesn't seem...too smart..._ He sighed and walked over to the small fire that was still burning and added a little more wood.

"Well, I'd say it's a little rude to be bad company to the person who saved your life, isn't it? The least you could do for me is to talk with me, hmm? Keep me company?"

I shook my head a little out of instinct. This boy...he was strange.

He rolled his eyes. "You're not very good at this, are you? Well, I'll start us off, then." He sat down on the ground next to me, looking right into my eyes with that persistent smile. "My name is Dávon. What's yours?"

I closed my eyes again. I didn't want to tell some stranger what my name was, no matter how nice he was. But...something about him just made it seem...okay. "...My name is Angela."

He smiled wider. "That's a pretty name," he commented, leaning back against the grass and breaking the eye contact, staring up at the sky instead. "Dávon's rather plain, I think. But Angela is pretty...so what brings you here?"

My face had gone slightly red. He was certainly strange. "...Dávon...I think it's a nice name." Small talk wasn't my strong suit...people had started scaring me at some point. I racked my brains for a harmless topic. "I...I followed someone in here. How did you get here? I didn't see you when I came in..."

He chuckled a little. "Following the love of our life, were we? I don't know how I got here, truthfully. I just sort of...woke up, found some moblin about to spear my head, and then started walking around. I found you on the ground near that spring back there, and...well, you know from there. So how'd you get here?"

My face went redder, and I sat up with embarrassment. "He-he is not the love of my life!"

Dávon chuckled again. "It's all right, Ang! You don't mind if I call you that do you? If you love the boy, it ain't your fault!" He looked at me and squinted a little. "You're a little young to have meet the love of your life though, aren't you?"

"...The boy I am chasing is my _brother_, Dávon. He is not the love of my life; he's the only family that I have."

Dávon was silent for a few minutes. "...But you do love him, right?"

"...As a brother...think next time before you go accusing people of being in love with their brother, okay?"

"I will, I promise." He smiled, looking back at me with a genuinely sorry look in his eyes. "I didn't mean to offend you, but if I said I was in here because I was chasing a girl, then you might assume that I loved her too, you know. And it's always best to make sure someone doesn't have a love interest before you give them a hug, isn't it?"

I shook my head. He just...didn't make sense. Almost every thing he said confused me, but it was interesting. I felt myself smiling a little. Maybe I should stay with him for a while. He'd probably make this place...fun.

"Dávon, how old are you?"

"Huh?" He turned and looked at me again, having turned to admire the sky while I had been thinking. He frowned slightly and then looked back at the sky. "...I'm twelve. Why?"

I blinked. _Twelve? He acts a lot older...then again, I guess I do too..._ "Just wondering...you seem interesting for being so young."

"Hey," he said, turning and flashing another smile. "You're younger."

"H-Why would you say that?"

"I can tell...you're younger than me. Don't know how much younger, at least a year or two. But definitely younger."

"...You're right...I'm only ten...but how did you know that?"

"I'm a genius..."

"Dávon, are you ever going to answer my other question?"

"Whoa, touché! What other question? You've started talking a lot; I can't keep all of this in my head at the same time!" He smirked. "You were better quiet," he added with a wink.

"How'd you get here?"

"...I got here by an accident, it seems. I simply...walked in here. I don't think I'm supposed to be here...but, that's okay!" His smile turned into more of a wild grin. "That seems to happen to me all the time."

I frowned a little bit. "...What happens all the time?"

"I end up somewhere I'm not supposed to be, or I end up I'm not welcomed...I'm getting used to wandering around in random places!"

I smiled a little bit. "I wander too...but I go everywhere on purpose. I have to follow my brother and help him."

Dávon smiled again. "Man, you love that boy, don't you?"

"I _told_ you-!"

"I know, I know, but I don't mean it _that_ way!" He waved an arm. "I mean...brotherly...sisterly...ah, family love! You obviously at least _like_ him a lot. Otherwise you wouldn't be running around the world or whatever chasing him, right?"

I blinked once or twice and then nodded. "...Y-yeah...he's all I really have, y'know. If it wasn't for him ..."

"Oh, you don't need to follow people to have fun! Y'know, have fun on your own and all that jazz?"

I shook my head. "No...he has a job too do. An important one. So I had to believe that I was here for...something. Since he was so important, it's not fair that I'm not. Link...he's one important kid."

"Link?"

"Yeah...that's his name."

"..." Dávon continued to stare at the sky for a while. "Interesting name," he finally replied. "Not as pretty as yours."

"Y-yeah...I know it's an odd name. I don't know why our parents named him that...I feel sorry for him, but...it seems that a line of Links are off saving the world or something. So...I guess destiny named him Link. Surprised it's not a more common name."

"Why?"

"You'd think every mother would want their child to save the world."

"Ah...mmhmm." I chuckled a little, watching him. His body was totally relaxed, and his eyes were closed. That slight smile that I hadn't seen leave his face yet was still etched on as well and a slight piece of his hair was waving in the mild wind that had picked up. He opened one eye and looked at me. I smiled slightly.

"A'ight, little hawk...go back to sleep."

I yawned almost as soon as I said it. "W-what? I'm not tired, don't be silly...I've been sleeping for a long time now."

"You've been unconscious. You're awake enough now to move, but you don't have any serious energy. If we needed to sprint somewhere, you'd be in trouble. Get to sleep. I'll find you some more food."

"What happened to the rest of my food?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Well, things spoil. I ate it, since it looked like you weren't gonna. Now go to sleep, little hawk." He stood up, brushing some stuff off his legs.

"Why're you still calling me that?"

He smiled again, a little softer. "Cause...that's what you are. A little hawk."

The last thing I really saw was him walking away and his long braid moving around energetically. Then I feel back asleep.

* * *

A lot later, I woke up and sat up and yawned in one fluid motion. I smiled to myself. It hadn't hurt insanely to do it. My body was more or less healed. "Hey, little hawk, don't go getting ideas now."

"Ideas like what?" I scowled without thinking about it. Man, had I already gotten used to him?

He chuckled, and I noticed with a little confusion that he was turning another spit with something on it. The amusing thing was, he was doing it with his eyes closed and using his feet. "Like getting up, running off, and leaving me alone." He grinned at me again, without even opening his eyes. "'Cause I know the first thing on your mind was healing so you could get better."

I stared at him in disbelief. How had be been able to tell that? "I...I wasn't thinking about that..."

"Aw, don't deny it. It's fine to admit you were gonna leave me without a friend in the world...the sad thing would have been if you had actually done it."

"...F-friend?"

He chuckled again. "Yeah, friend. I mean...heck, you're the first human I've seen around here. If we make ourselves enemies, then we're gonna be pretty miserable here, aren't we?"

I paused. That thought hadn't occurred to me-what if we _were_ the only two humans in the entire Realm? The only other ones I was sure were here were Link and Ganondorf, and neither of them I knew about, either. I knew that Link would probably be with the Master Sword somewhere...but Ganondorf I didn't know. I hadn't known he was going to be here until he had entered. It was wrong. That I knew.

Link was I pretty sure I wouldn't be able to contact. And Ganondorf I didn't _want_ to contact. So...that left the boy sitting next to me. Dávon. I gulped a little.

He opened one eye and examined the food he had on the spit and then looked at me. "...So you find being alone in a world with me scary, huh? Horrible?"

"Huh?"

He closed his eye again, his smile fading to more of a thoughtful smirk. "You don't like the idea of being with me any more than you have to, do you?"

"N-no, that's not it..."

"Aw, c'mon!" He opened his eyes and gave me a look that just made me feel...guilty. The sheer emotion he had in his eyes was impressive...and it caught me totally off-guard. "Don't lie about it, Ang. If you wanna leave, I'm not gonna make you _stay_, you know...you can go if you want to."

"I didn't mean...I mean, it's not like I wanted to leave because I didn't want to stay and talk with you or something..."

"Am I that _annoying_, then?"

"You're...unique. Friendly."

"And you can't wait to get away from me."

"God _damn_ it, Dávon, if you're gonna get that upset about it, then I'll stay with you...I mean, it's not like I have anywhere else to go or something."

He sighed a little, and I heard him cluck his tongue. "Language...and yeah. But you could..." He didn't finish his sentence, just continued turning the spit with his boots. Finally he grinned again. "Hey, food's pretty much done. Wanna eat?"

I blinked. _He dropped it...just like that?_ I nodded, and pulled the blankets off myself. "I should work some...I haven't swung a sword for a while..."

He nodded. "We both could. After we eat, we will." He stood up and starting cutting up the meat and handed a bit on another stick to me before sitting and eating a little. It was surprisingly good.

"...Dávon...I'm not gonna stay because I feel guilty or something..." I swallowed the meat I was eating and looked at him. He didn't look back, but continued to chow down on his bit of meat. "I'm gonna stay because...you seem interesting. And I think...we could have fun together."

He kept eating silently for a little, and I sighed and did so too. After a few minutes, he nodded at me. "Good."

After that, our conversation just seemed natural.

* * *

"Mm...where'd you learn how to cook, Dávon?"

He blinked. "...People learn how to cook?" He looked thoughtful for a few moments and then shook his head. "Nonsense. I just sort of put the food on the fire until its edible..."

"Either way, it tastes good..."

"Glad you enjoy it."

I smiled. Dávon was always a little spacey when he cooked food, even if he denied it. He didn't let stuff burn. It was rather amusing, really, because he denied being anything near a cook, and then paid his food the utmost attention. "Hey, Dáv..."

"Hmmm?"

"I thought you wanted to fight or something."

"Huh?" He looked at me with utter confusion, his smile half off his face. "Why would I want to _fight_ with you? I don't wanna get you pissed..."

"No, not fight with me, you dummy!" I laughed again. "I meant...practice with swords and stuff. Remember, you said when I was better we could fight or something, remember? Well, I _am _okay now, y'know."

He chuckled a little. "You sure you wanna spar with me?"

I frowned. "Why wouldn't I?"

"You're a girl! Don't think I didn't _notice _that yet! Everyone knows that guys are stronger and all that stuff. As a girl, you don't stand a chance against me!" I stared at him in mild disbelief.

_Huh. Didn't know he was sexist..._

He grinned sheepishly. "Nah, just kidding. That doesn't have anything to do with you not beating me."

"Oh? And why couldn't I beat you?" He sighed a little, and pulled his sword out of his sheath. He looked at the blade for a few minutes, before pointing out a little nick in it. I blinked. "...So what does this have to do with anything?"

"No point in hurting our swords, right?" He re-sheathed it and laid back down on the ground, kicking the spit once to turn it. "It's harder to sharpen swords without a block of wood or something. I don't wanna have them get dull...or break."

I sighed a little. "C'mon, we're not gonna fight for our lives or anything! Not hard enough to break the swords." He frowned a little, but his face returned to his usual smile within a second or so. "It's not going to hurt anything..."

"A'ight, a'ight...I'll beat you up..." He stood up, moving his long braid back behind his body. He pulled out his sword again, scowling mildly at the marred spot. "I'll have to clean you later, won't I?"

I rolled my eyes and pulled out my sword a little clumsily-it had been a while. I was used to using my bow, not my sword. I hadn't fought with it since the time I had accidentally gotten caught by a few rogue zombies and hadn't had a choice. Dávon raised an eyebrow.

"You sure about this?"

"Yeah. Come on already!"

"We can't fight on, we need a clearing or something. We'll step in the fire and burn our boots, and if our tunics burn off, then you'd be really embarrassed, wouldn't you?"

I nodded, rolling my eyes a little. "Where do you come up with these thoughts?"

"Trust me, if you spent enough time sitting still in one place, your mind would warp in ways that you never imagined possible." I shook my head at him again. "Whaaaaaat?"

"You're just crazy, blonde boy..."

"Blonde boy? Little hawk, you _better_ not be mouthing off to me!"

I yanked on his braid a little and smirked. "Oh, and what if I am, Blondie?"

"Then I'll use my greater height and smash you into the ground like a bug."

I pouted. "That's not very nice, Dáv..."

"Neither is mouthing off to people, little hawk."

I sighed and stared at him sadly, fingering the hilt of my sword. "Mau, Dávon, are we gonna fight or not?"

He stood indecisively for a little bit, trying not to meet my eyes and mentally debating with himself. That all ended when gave him puppy eyes. He started walking. "C'mon," I heard him mumble. "If you really wanna..."

I grinned widely and gave him a hug from behind. He paused for a moment, moving his arms away from me as to not disrupt my hold. I broke off, walking ahead of him and grinning. He shook his head a little and followed, a half smile half thoughtful look on his face.

"Don't think too hard, Dávon. Your head might explode."

"Ooh, you're right. Wouldn't want that to happen."

* * *

A field wasn't hard to find. All we had to do was walk for a little while until the forest thinned enough for us to stand ten or so feet away from each other without running into trees. Dávon nodded and sat down on the ground. "This place is fine...look, Ang, are you sure you want to fight with me?"

"Ooh, you used my real name. Must be serious."

He rolled his eyes. "C'mon!"

I sighed a little. "Look, is there a serious reason you don't want to fight me?"

He shook his head a little. "Not...really, no. I just don't really wanna fight _with_ you..." He grinned sheepishly.

"You're not fighting with me, it's a sparring match! You have weird logic, blonde boy!" I chuckled and wiped my blade off. "Now hurry up already, or the food'll burn."

He shook his head and stood up. "Hey, I'm ready girl. Just come at me whenever you're ready."

I stared at him for a few seconds and growled a little. "Don't take me so lightly as to just _give_ me first attack!"

"I'm not taking you lightly...please, just take it. I'd feel rather mean taking the first hit against a girl-and I'm not being sexist or anything. I would feel mean doing it to almost anyone...and fighting with you is bad enough."

"We're not _fighting_!"

I took my sword and ran at him, taking the first attack with a little more annoyance. _He's not even taking me seriously! He's still sitting on the ground!_ But as I got near him, he seemed to...sort of suddenly appear sitting and then suddenly be standing. But I didn't have time to think about that, seeing as his sword had suddenly gotten tangled in my hands as soon as I had stepped into range.

I took a step back, recovering my balance and trying to get a hold of my sword. Dávon raised an eyebrow. "You're faster than that."

I stared at him in shock for a second and then was forced to block a hit he sent at my stomach. I grunted a little, feeling him begin to slowly move my sword closer to my body. "So, what we fighting till?" I looked at him again in shock, losing another inch out of surprise. "I'm assuming you'd like first blood." I didn't comment, just kept trying to force him away. "Okay then."

He suddenly moved back, causing me to stumble forward. He grabbed the hilt of my sword with one hand-putting it over mine-and squeezed. I winced. He was strong, and now both of my hands were stuck. "Dáv-Dávon...l-let go..."

"Battle situation, little hawk. Would a moblin let go of your hand?"

He dropped his sword and grabbed one of my hands with his, and pulled it right off the sword. I hadn't realized he was strong enough to do it, but it made perfect sense. I was a lightweight to him.

He pulled my arms out farther on each side so I was very off balance. He chuckled a little. "That wasn't a very good fight, was it? I didn't draw blood, and you don't draw blood...it looks like no one wins. You agree we'll try this another time?"

I shook my head. "Dammit, don't keep treating me like I can't do any-"

He pulled a little farther, causing a slight bit of pain. "Language, little hawk, language...do you want to end this fight now or let me actually beat you?"

I gulped a little. He _was_ hurting my back, and at this rate...I really wasn't going to win. "Fine. You win."

"Ah, ah, ah...it's a draw. There was no blood."

I blinked, and then gritted my teeth. "Dammit, I told you, I don't want you-"

He sighed loudly and released my arms, but wrapped his around me and pulling me towards him a little. I felt him press a little weight into me, and my words just sort of died. I was too surprised to really say anything to him. "Little hawk, I told you, I don't want to hear you curse anymore...you _are_ a little lady, they shouldn't curse."

"S-sorry..."

"And I'm not going easy on you, either. I just don't want to beat you horribly on our first match."

"...First...match?"

He nodded, leaning his head against my shoulder. "You don't think I'm not going to improve your skills now that I know what you might be capable of, do you? Nah...duty as a friend, y'know. To bring each other to their potential."

"But I won't be able to help you..."

He grinned, and released me and spun me around to face him in the same motion. "Then here's our deal. You don't ditch me, I teach you how to fight well."

I stared at his face for a little bit. His was smiling, as usual-so far, I had only seen that smile disappear for a few minutes-but that wasn't what interested me. I fought myself drawn to looking at his eyes. I hadn't ever noticed how blue they were before...but they were pretty. They reminded me of Lake Hylia. They complemented his blonde braid, too. It made me wish for a few minutes that I had the same combination of looks.

The interesting thing about his eyes really was that they didn't look like they belonged on the face of a grinning guy; they looked like they belonged on a homeless man begging for food. I realized with a jerk that Dávon honestly just wanted me to stay with him. He'd be more than hurt if I ran off and ditched him as I had originally planned.

And with even more interest, I found the idea was no longer even slightly appealing. Dávon had managed to completely amuse and interest me in the time we had been together, and we got along better than anyone else I had ever talked with, aside from maybe Kailua. I smiled and nodded. "Sounds like a deal to me."

He grinned even wider, and this time his eyes joined in. "Good."

* * *

"C'mon," he yelled, waving his sword at me. "You can fight better than _that_!"

"I'm _trying_ to!" I swung my sword and caught a moblin in the chest, and then ducked and rolled to avoid its wild failing. I could hear Dávon groan in the background.

"Aww, don't leave your _sword_ in the thing's gut!"

I winced and turned in a _very_ awkward way and yanked my sword out of the moblin's stomach as it fell, using its momentum to ease the action. I turned around and held my sword up just in time to parry a heavier hit from another moblin. I slid a few feet backwards, wincing and gripping the hilt of my sword very tightly in an attempt to keep a grip on the fight. I gritted my teeth and leaned forward, trying to push the moblin off its center of balance. It pushed back just as hard, until I suddenly ducked to the side and let it stumble forward, slashing its neck as soon as it was open enough.

Dávon clapped from his perch in the tree. "Good, good...extremely messy, a lot of missteps, and all-around stupidity..." He jumped out of the tree, putting his sword away and smirking a little, "but you're alive. That's always good."

I sighed. "Man, Dáv, I swear unless one of these bastards killed me, you'd just sit in that tree."

"Language," he warned, clucking his tongue. "We've spent a year on this. Clean up your mouth, little hawk."

"And I swear you'll _never_ call me by my real name!"

He smiled. "I do call you by your real name. But it's cuter to call you little hawk, don't you think?" I could feel my face flushing a little, and he chuckled. "Well, I'll just pretend _that's_ from all the work you did in the battle, won't I?"

I sighed and sheathed my sword, shaking my head a little. "Yeah, yeah, if you know what's good for you."

He smirked, putting an arm around my shoulder and making a sweeping arm gesture to the surrounding area. "So, where to today, little hawk?" I shrugged. He chuckled. "You never care where we go, do you?"

I shook my head. "Nah..."

"Why?"

I looked at him in surprise. He was still grinning, but his smile was a little more curious than before. "Why what?"

"Why do you never care where we go? You always just let me choose."

"Oh..." I looked up at the sky for a few minutes, and then shrugged. "I don't know...it just seems like I have no matter what we do, so why should I care what we do?" I smiled a little. "I mean, most of the time _you_ don't know where we're going, we just go. Besides, we still don't know what's around here. We haven't explored much..."

"Yeah, I know." He took his arm off my shoulder and made a dramatic pose. I laughed, and he winked at me. "Come, fair maiden! Today, we go off to chart this...uncharted land!"

I kept laughing, still shaking my head. "You're a _nut_, Dávon!"

He shrugged. "That may be true...but we still _should_ explore this place. We have no idea what it's like, and we've been here for almost a year. We have no idea what it's like outside this forest-in fact, we have no idea what it's like outside a certain part of this forest."

That surprised me. "There's no way it's been a year already..."

He chuckled. "What, having too much fun with me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, oh modest one, don't you know it. It seems like a few months at the most, not a year..."

"Hate to break it to you, but a few months is a year."

I lightly punched his shoulder. "Don't be smart. You're head'll explode."

He winced. "Don't like the sound of that one bit...perhaps I ought to be get to being the mule and carrying everything in order to prevent that, hmm?"

I smirked and nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me."

* * *

It didn't take long until Dávon had actually rolled up the blankets he had and somehow compressed them until they were easy to carry. And then we simply started walking. "...Oi, blond boy, do we actually have any plan as to where we're heading, or are you just kind of walking?"

"Definitely just walking."

I winced. "...Well, we could be stuck in this forest for the rest of our lives..."

"That's not possible...there's an end to every forest."

"Not Kokiri."

"Say what now?" He turned and looked at me, walking backwards and somehow managing to evade the trees. "Kokiri?"

"Yeah...that's a forest in Hyrule."

"Ah, Hyrule...I've heard of the place, never been there, though."

I blinked. "...Then where have you been?"

"Somewhere else, obviously...so much for little hawk being smart."

"No, Dávon, I'm serious!"

"There are other worlds beside Hyrule; you know...you've just never been to them. That's sort of how I got here, actually...I was trying to get out of my world and go to a more important world or something with better chances of getting rich quick, and I accidentally messed up the portal guy, because I sure didn't land in the center of the capital."

"Where did you land?"

"Inside a Castle...but there were no people." He shook his head. "Let's not think about it, it was disturbing. There were no people anywhere in the castle, but there sure wasn't anything else, either."

I frowned. "...Hyrule Castle Town...empty..." I shook my head. "You said you landed in here. The town in here must just not be right, because people don't live here. This place is an echo of Hyrule, so as long as Hyrule is fine, this place will show it...and the forest is still safe."

"Except all those moblins..."

"A lot of places have monsters in them! It's the natural way of things...there are good animals and bad ones. Some attack, some don't."

"...I don't know if you've noticed, little hawk...the only animal that hasn't attacked us is you."

"I'm not an animal, you nut case..."

"But as a hawk you were. I haven't even seen a butterfly..."

"Dávon, please...don't worry about it." I smiled a little. "We don't know what it's like here, we haven't explored enough yet."

He nodded. "...I guess." He sighed a little, still walking backwards. "Man, today kinda sucks, you can't even see the sky. I've gotten used-"

_Thud._ I stopped, and blinked, staring at Dávon, who had suddenly totally ceased to move. I shook my head. "...Man, that probably took care of a few brain cells. How you feeling?"

He winced. "Ow. My head."

"Aw...poor tree, an idiot ran into it!"

He pouted. Dávon, unlike most guys, could actually pout without being gay. He didn't look stupid or anything when he pouted, he looked sad, and it kinda made me feel bad every time he did it. I rolled my eyes. "You're being mean again..."

"Oh, I am not being mean to you. C'mon, let's keep moving."

"Where are we gonna go? You're the only one who has a prayer at recognizing this place."

I nodded, and grabbed his arm. "This way!" With that, I started running, dragging him behind me. He somehow managed to contort his body so he was running normally, but I was still steering him, running in the direction I was fairly sure Kokiri Forest was in. Every so often he'd flail and I'd have to practically pull him into me for him to avoid a tree.

Finally, we emerged from one of the tunnels of the Lost Woods, and looked around. It was eerily still in Kokiri Forest. It was night, so none of the Kokiri were awake, but it still seemed empty. I frowned.

"...There aren't any stray fairies, Dávon."

He shrugged. "Are there supposed to be any?"

I nodded. "It never gets this dark here...there are usually tens of fairies floating around here, so it's always light. It's the most beautiful sight in the world..." I closed my eyes, imagining all the fairies dancing around. I missed them. I hadn't been able to sit and peacefully watch the fairies for a long time now, and I missed them. I missed...everyone in Kokiri. I missed the life I had been living before Link had left the forest.

I wiped at my eyes, feeling a little bit of water in them. I gulped. I missed Saria, who had always been so nice to me...the twins, who had always been fun to chat with, and all the Kokiri. I _almost_ missed Mido. And I missed having a little floating blob next to me wherever I went. I rubbed my eyes again. "...It's the most beautiful thing..."

Dávon shook his head, and stepped towards me, kind of slowly wrapping one arm around me in a sort of hug. "No, it's not..."

"H-how would you know? You've never seen it." I looked back at him, feeling my face trembling a little. I didn't want to cry in front of Dávon, but I couldn't help it. I missed my old life so much...

He smiled a little. He had that same sad look in his eyes he had when he had thought I was leaving-the sad tint. "No, I know it's not the most beautiful thing in the world...but I know what is." He wiped a little bit of water off from under one of my eyes. "Mau, little hawk, don't cry..."

I sniffled a little, wiping more at my eyes. "I-I'm not crying..." I felt his grip on me tighten a little, and I instinctively leaned in against him. For some reason, just resting all of my weight against him just felt natural. I looked back at the still forest, trying to figure out where everyone was. I could see the leaves of the Deku Tree, I could hear the splashing of water at the small waterfall-but that was all the movement.

Suddenly, I felt alienated. I felt like we were strangers and didn't belong, and that hundreds of hidden eyes were staring at us. I tensed, looking around with a slight sense of panic.

Dávon felt he tense and let go, looking around. "What's wrong?"

"...Dáv...it's late. Come on; let's go find a place to sleep."

"Can't we borrow a room from someone here?"

I shook my head, feeling a few tears threatening to return. "There's no one here, Dávon. No one."

* * *

We ended up going to check for my grotto, but it simply wasn't there. I searched for nearly ten minutes while Dávon watched, but my grotto just didn't exist. I finally shook my head. "It's not here."

"Then we'll just use this tree-house," he shrugged, pointing at Link's house. I frowned a little.

"That's Link's house."

"So?"

"Nothing wrong with it...it'll just be odd to not see him sleeping there."

"Well, if it's gonna bother you, then...I won't make you sleep there, you know..." He paused. "Man, you even stalk him in his _sleep_?"

"Oh, shut up. Come on, it's time we went to sleep...it's probably almost ten by now." I chuckled a little. I was getting a lot more sleep in the Sacred Realm. I was safer here, somehow. My body could relax enough for me to get more sleep.

We both climbed up the staircase and into his room. It was really dark in there, but we couldn't light a fire, obviously. I knew where everything was because I had seen his house so many times, so I got out some more blankets and prepared to sleep on the floor.

Dávon wouldn't allow that, though, so within a few minutes of a tackling match, I was sleeping on the bed, and he was complaining that the floor was hard. Then I threw a boot at him, closed the curtains, and went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up to a huge pair of blue eyes staring me in the face. I jumped up with a start, hitting the eyes with my head in the process. "Oww!" Dávon fell off the side of the bed, holding onto his head. "That huuuurt!" I found myself unable to stop staring at him. The sight of a boy rolling on the floor, whining and holding onto his head was simply...odd.

Then again, so was the boy.

"Uh...sorry, Dáv..."

"Oh, I'm fine." He sat up, resting his arms on his legs like nothing had happened. "So, where to today?"

I shook my head, sort of accepting his strangeness. "I wanna explore the rest of this forest...I need to check out a couple of landmarks, so to speak."

He shrugged. "You're the boss...I have no idea where we are anyway." He stood up, stretching and wiping some stuff of his clothes. "...Hey..." he smirked evilly. "Think your any of your brother's stuff is here?"

I shook my head. "Wow...where do you think I got the blankets from? Of course his stuff is here!"

He grinned. "We should take a little for you, so you can remember him better...that would be _ssooooo_ cute!"

Another book went soaring at his head, but his superior reflexes let him dodge it. "Yeah, right. I'm not that creepy."

There was a sudden violent wind outside-strong enough to kick up all the blankets we had been using and have them almost strangle us. Both of us spent a good two minutes protecting ourselves from them before the wind died down, and a rather bright glow filtered into the house. I could see Dávon shift his weight minutely so that he could fight if he needed to.

"Ang...will ya move over here for me?" He pointed behind himself, keeping an eye on the door. "If you arch, then we can take out whatever it is safely."

"It may not be dangerous..." Without arguing, I went behind him, drawing out my bow and nocking an arrow to it.

"Best to be safe, little hawk."

The door moved open, and I winced from the bright light, unable to aim at all. The glow quickly faded, and I moved quickly to aim an arrow at the surprised figure in the doorway.

"...Well...I didn't think anyone would be here."

Dávon and I looked at each other, and I wordlessly put my bow away. Whoever this old man was, he was obviously no danger-he was too out of shape to swing a sword anyway. "Excuse me, sir, but...who are you?"

The stranger smiled. "Ah...Angela, correct? I've heard of you. You," he added, looked at Dávon, "I can't say I know. What's your name?"

He smiled a little. "Mau, I'd say it was a tad rude to ask for names without introducing yourself first, wouldn't you agree?"

The man smiled in an almost grandfatherly way. "Of course...my name is Rauru."

I blinked. "Rauru...I know that name..."

He looked mildly surprised. "Have you? Where?"

"...From a book..."

He stared at me for a little longer and then sighed. "Then you already know that you can't contact Link while you're here...there's no reason at all for you to be here."

"I-I know..."

"Are you going to bother us?"

I shook my head. He nodded and then walked over to a drawer, and began casting spells and transporting things. "H-hey! What are you doing?"

"If I have to watch over him, then I will be keeping his things. He will be more comfortable that way, will he not?" He finished casting his spells, and walked back over to me. "I have no problem with you being here, but it's dangerous...I'd rather you go back to Hyrule. I can send you there, if you'd like."

I looked over at Dávon. "What about him?"

"Him I cannot send...my magic will not affect him for reasons you will not yet understand."

I shook my head. "Then no, I will stay here..."

Rauru nodded, and then walked out of the tree house. I gulped slightly, and looked over at Dávon, and then gestured towards the door. "C'mon. We have a lot of exploring to do..."


End file.
